My Brush Repairs, Restorations & Builds

Discussion in 'The Brush' started by Enrico, Mar 27, 2017.

  1. john zeiger

    john zeiger Well-Known Member

  2. TobyC

    TobyC Well-Known Member

    I know, I know!!!

    [​IMG]
     
    Frijolero and Enrico like this.
  3. Ijustmissedthe50s

    Ijustmissedthe50s The Warnee

    Enrico...I always look forward to seeing your brush rescues! Your projects are well done and neat to see. Thanks for sharing!
     
    Enrico likes this.
  4. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    Thank you for your kind words!
     
  5. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    I got this Hardright Anchorset that was in need of some TLC. This said, as pretty as they are sometimes, they were not designed the best and can have catastrophic failures.

    Before ...
    IMG_1071.JPG

    And now after ...
    IMG_1094.JPG

    I removed the knot and found it to have some other damage. I made the repairs, polished, re-lettered and installed a synthetic knot with lots of backbone.

    It's not perfect, but it's now serviceable!


    And as always ... more to come! :D
     
    AlDm, Brickman301, Paul76 and 5 others like this.
  6. john zeiger

    john zeiger Well-Known Member

    Really looks great, Keith!
     
    Enrico likes this.
  7. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    Thank you. :)
     
  8. TobyC

    TobyC Well-Known Member

    What's the knot???
     
  9. Jrdelgado

    Jrdelgado Well-Known Member

    Looks great man!
     
  10. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    A couple years back I purchased a 26mm synthetic (from ebay) I thought was too stiff; not scrub brush, but more back bone than Maggard's. It kind of reminds me of a boar brush after a thirty second soak ... stiff, but not awful.

    I just realized it was from Frank Shaving. :)

    Thanks! :happy088:
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2018
    TobyC likes this.
  11. TobyC

    TobyC Well-Known Member

    Very cool, thanks bubba! :happy005:
     
    Enrico likes this.
  12. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    With a whole lotta irons in the fire; I jumped on these two Made Rite brushes. Not that they looked too terrible in the before, but I needed to make some room here.

    Before ...
    s-l1600-13-3.jpg s-l1600-11-3.jpg

    And after ...
    IMG_1096.JPG

    Removed the original knots and bored out to accept 24mm synthetics (left to right, Timber Wolf and Tuxedo). I weighted and polished them, but they still retain a few reminders of their past life (a minor scratch or there). They are both very soft, but the blue Made Rite has more back bone than the red (quite noticeably). I'd say the blue with the Tuxedo feels more like a boar and the red with the Timber Wolf is more like a badger.

    They're all ready for the upcoming holiday ... red, white and blue. :happy088:

    And as alway ... more to come. :D
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
    AlDm, TestDepth, Paul76 and 2 others like this.
  13. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    Well it's been quite some time since I've finished some brushes, but it is not due to lack of effort; just the opposite. These have been real bugger at times and heart wrenchers at other times.

    I started out with two Chicago brushes from the mid 70's.
    IMG_1092.JPG

    After some input I decided to restore these as twins ... kind of. :signs136: What I mean is that they would be identical except one would be a traditional boar and the other would be an angel soft synthetic set deep to give a greater amount of backbone.

    IMG_1118.JPG

    The result is interesting ... after setting the synthetic almost twice as deep as normal ... it is still very soft with a bit more back bone. The boar knot came from an Omega 40033, so has plenty of backbone. My only down side is that they are not perfect ... I had some issues cleaning the old knot out of the brush on the right (seen in the edge where the knot retainer and the ferrule meet). The ferrules didn't want to be removed from the handle, so made polishing and refinishing fun. :angry032: I used a cherry stain on the wood and finished them with Teak oil and Helmsman Spar urethane. It was a challenge to buff and polish the ferrule due that it was unable to be removed, so not my best work, but it was re-lettering with a copper paint. Some of the lettering detail was diminished and minor scratches were unable to be buffed out of ferrule.

    So long explanation finish not perfect, but interesting. These 40 year old brushes are ready for service again.:) By the way I'm my own worse critic.

    And as always ... more to come! :D
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2018
    AlDm, Shojo510, TestDepth and 4 others like this.
  14. john zeiger

    john zeiger Well-Known Member

    Great job as usual Keith!
     
    Enrico likes this.
  15. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    Thank you ... believe it or not, they were one of my more challenging restores, for multiple reasons.
     
  16. mvd

    mvd Well-Known Member

    I know what you mean. I am doing my first restore on a similiar brush. 1st the stain didn't take, so I used a stripper and sanded again. Then the stain took, but it wasn't quite the colour I wanted. I got the colour right and taped off the ferrule to apply the clearcoat. When I took the tape off it raised the edge of the clearcoat because they bonded together. Now I have the lifted clearcoat fixed, but I did minor damage to the ferrule that I hope will polish out.

    Phew! I am just glad that I picked a less important, cracked brush to work on first as a practice run. There has been a lot of learning what not to do. I haven't even pulled the old knot or ordered the new one yet!

    All of this is to say that I can really see how things go wrong, and it is a credit to your excellent craftmanship that these brushes turned out so wonderful. Fantastic work.
     
    Enrico likes this.
  17. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn


    Thank you for your insight and kind words.

    As funny as it may sound, I find the brushes more in need of TLC to be the most satisfying. I guess a better way to look at it is "When you at the bottom, there is no where to go, but up"
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2018
    john zeiger and mvd like this.
  18. Borderboss

    Borderboss Active Member

    I have the same brush, in much better condition, waiting for me to restore it. Did you run into anything unusual when you drilled out the knot? It's unusually heavy compared to similar sized/shaped Rubberset brushes, which is why I ask. Thanks!

    [​IMG]
     
    Linuxguile likes this.
  19. Enrico

    Enrico Popcorn

    Just an FYI that model of Hardright is a plastic coated wood and it can be brittle. Also when you remove the knot you’ll find a steel or brass retaining ring that I carefully remove to accept a 26mm knot. It’s not an impossible brush to restore, but I don’t go looking for them unless they’re real cheap. I’ve restored 3 or 4 and usually find them a pain in the fanny. Btw don’t try to unscrew the ferrule from the handle... they break.
     
  20. Borderboss

    Borderboss Active Member

    Thanks very much for the info. The retaining ring must be where the weight is coming from. I'll be careful when I drill out the knot.
     
    Linuxguile likes this.

Share This Page